Regional Theater of the Week: The Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet, is excited to announce a new feature to its comprehensive regional coverage - the Featured Regional Theater of the Week! Each week, BWW will introduce its readers to a regional theater located in one of our (over 130!) coverage cities. By exploring these different venues, their history and showcasing the production seasons, BWW continues its commitment to expand our presence in communities and cities across the United States.

This Week's Featured Regional Theater: The Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio

2012-2013 heralds The Human Race Theatre Company's 26th Season of bringing the beauty, drama and excitement of live professional theatre to Dayton and southwestern Ohio, serving a population numbering nearly one million. Their Loft Season provides audiences with award-winning, cutting edge dramas, American classics and regional and world premieres. Their Musical Theatre Workshop series expands the repertoire of enthusiastic musical audiences with brand new or seldom performed material. And their education programs touch thousands of children, while engagement programs address the cultural needs of challenged individuals throughout the Miami Valley.

The Human Race Theatre Company provides ever-increasing audiences with a myriad of entertaining and enlightening performances. Most works are now presented in the intimate setting of their own Loft Theatre, while annually they are able to utilize the larger and more elaborate venue of the historic Victoria Theatre.

The Youth Training Programs, which include classes, summer camps, residencies and tours, allow to connect with over 30,000 students and teachers annually throughout Dayton and southwestern Ohio, both in and out of classrooms. In addition, they have now expanded our onsite educational programming even further with the Caryl D. Philips Creativity Center.

They have earned our place as a vital part of Dayton's cultural community by offering an alternative to mainstream theatre with thought provoking productions that challenge and enlighten audiences. As the name suggests, they present universal themes that explore the human condition and startle us all into a renewed awareness of themselves. As Dayton's professional, not-for-profit regional theatre, it is a mission they take very seriously as they address the educational and cultural needs of those we serve.

The 2013-2014 Eichelberger Loft Series Lineup includes:

A Mid-life Comedic Crisis
Becky's New Car
by Steven Dietz
September 12 - 29, 2013

Becky Foster is stuck in neutral-middle aged, in middle management and a middling marriage-until an honest misunderstanding with a wealthy widower offers her the chance at an exciting double life...and she takes it. Now she's frantically juggling to keep her two worlds apart before everything threatens to come crashing down on her. It's enough to drive Becky off a cliff, and she's taking the audience along for the ride!

A Classic Musical Tradition
Fiddler on the Roof
book by Joseph Stein
music by Jerry Bock
lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
based on Sholem Aleichem's stories by special permission of Arnold Perl
October 31 - November 17, 2013

Welcome to the village of Anatevka, where tradition is everything. But change is sweeping across the land and into poor dairyman Tevye's house. When his daughters want to break with the old ways and choose their own husbands, Tevye must decide which he loves more - his family's happiness or his long-held beliefs. Filled with timeless songs and wonderful dance numbers, this Broadway blockbuster is a heartwarming tale for young and old.
Tony Award Winner for Best Musical

A Ground-breaking Cultural Milestone
Torch Song Trilogy
by Harvey Fierstein
January 30 - February 16, 2014

Poignant and filled with witty, sharp humor, Fierstein's deeply personal story of self-discovery redefined an era in gay America. What begins as a chance encounter in a New York nightclub leads drag-queen Arnold Beckoff in a hilarious, yet touching, pursuit of love, happiness and a life of which he can be proud. From a failed affair with a reluctant lover, to a committed relationship with a young model and the promise of a stable family, Arnold's struggle for acceptance meets its greatest challenge in his intolerant mother.
Tony Award Winner for Best Play

A Revealing Family Drama
Other Desert Cities
by Jon Robin Baitz
March 27 - April 13, 2014

The Wyeth family's Palm Springs Christmas reunion is already a tense affair between conservative parents Lyman and Polly, former GOP celebrities, their two grown children and Polly's liberal alcoholic sister, Silda. Any sense of peace vanishes completely when daughter Brooke, a once promising novelist, announces she is about to publish a tell-all memoir that threatens to tarnish her prominent family's past and reopen old wounds. As Brooke confesses her true motivations behind the book, she learns the real history is more shocking than she ever knew.
Pulitzer Prize for Drama Nominee and Tony Award Nominee for Best Play

A New Country Legend
Play It by Heart
music by David Spangler and Jerry Taylor
lyrics by David Spangler, Jerry Taylor and R.T. Robinson
book by Brian Yorkey
based on an original story by R.T. Robinson
June 12 - 29, 2014

It's the passing of the torch in a country music dynasty as superstar Jeannine Jasper's long career draws to a close. The changing world of the music industry is about to thrust her little sister, Jamie Lynn, into the spotlight. When an old flame comes calling, Jeannine envisions a quiet life offstage, but Jamie Lynn's wild ways may cut short her time on top. Stage mother Naomi tries to keep control of her daughters until a scandalous secret comes to light and threatens to tear them apart. A musical about heartbreak and healing, this regional premiere comes alive with an exciting original score filled with new songs from the Nashville Sound to New Country and a book by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal).

For more information about the Human Race Theatre Company, visit: http://humanracetheatre.org/index.php

Know of a theater we should feature? Send us your suggestion to christina@broadwayworld.com

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